It typified Manchester United's afternoon that when the insufficient stoppage time was announced and Erik ten Hag beckoned the crowd to respond, hardly anyone noticed.
There were high hopes for only the third United-Newcastle fixture not to be televised live in the United Kingdom in the last 10 seasons. The previous two were a 4-3 Boxing Day humdinger and Cristiano Ronaldo's second coming. The rights holders got it right.
It would be too easy to excuse the 2pm kick-off time for United's lifelessness, mirrored by many in the crowd. There were a smattering of spoilt boos at full-time, though the loudest were reserved for pernickety referee Craig Pawson.
